Italy's Secret Masonic Government revealed, P2 Scandal Roberto Calvi ritual murder, Martin Short ITV

Italy's Secret Masonic Government revealed, P2 Scandal, Inside The Brotherhood 5of6 ITV 1989 Network ITV Granada TV, Runtime 30m, Country United Kingdom Genres Documentary, Martin Short

The mysterious death in London of Italian banker Roberto Calvi raised many questions. Was it suicide - or was his symbolic and connected with the influential P2 lodge to which he belonged? New evidence helps piece together a picture of P2, a private government wielding untold power behind Italy's fragile democracy.

When the House of Commons Affairs Committee recently recommended that police officers, magistrates, judges and crown officers should publicly register their Masonic membership, it was very largely thanks to the ammunition provided by Martin Short's investigative 'tour de force'. His 'Inside the Brotherhood' carried on the pioneering work begun by Stephen Knight's explosive account of 'The Brotherhood'.

Approximately half a million men in the British Isles -- and another five million around the world -- are Freemasons. 'Inside the Brotherhood' examines what kind of men join the Craft -- and why. It investigates the occult elements in Masonry, whether its rituals should be seen as a religion- and, if so, what god is being worshipped. And, while relying on first-hand evidence wherever possible, the book probes the extent to which Masonic oaths of mutual aid and secrecy have contaminated the fraternity, aroused mounting hostility from churches, politicians and public, and provoked charges of corruption in key areas of British life, including the police force, local government, the City and the secret services.

"A judicious investigation, and Short puts forward a devastating case for the prosecution... He produces a persuasive testimony that Freemasonry has become a savage and a disease in jobs in the public service. He cites some fascinating and entirel credible examples of Masonic skulduggery -- and of Brother ranged viciously against Brother... It is difficult to dispute Short's conclusion that disclosure of their Masonic membership by those in positions of power should be made obligatory."
Piers Brendon,'Observer'

"Given the nature of the subject, it is doubtful if a more conclusive book could have been written" Alan Rusbridger,'Times Literary Supplement'

Martin Short is a writer/TV documentary producer whose two outstanding successes to date have been his 13-part Thames-TV series Crime Inc. about the Mafia, which spawned a Methuen book of the same name which is still in print, and his book on the Freemasons, which has been a bestseller. He later produced a 6-part ITV documentary series, also entitled Inside the Brotherhood.